


The Hearts of Heroes

by The_Reading_Dragon_Rider



Category: Hearts and Heroes (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 18,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23754118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Reading_Dragon_Rider/pseuds/The_Reading_Dragon_Rider
Summary: Gabby and Mark have been friends and leaders together since the MarkiHub's creation.  They have shared the successes and failures while battling the Terrorlings.  But things are starting to change; things are taking a turn for the worse in both the dream world and the real one.  How will this end for Gabby and Mark?(This is just a, "what would happen if there was another leader in the MarkiHub during the story of Hearts and Heroes".  Don't think it will be the best but here it is!)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Chapter 1

As Gabby opened her brown eyes, she was quick to realize that this room and bed were not her own. ‘What was the biggest giveaway? The fact the room was stone, that its size was ten times bigger than her own, or the multiple other beds filling the room?’ she thought sarcastically to herself, pushing herself upright. Gabby swung her feet to the floor and glanced around; it looked almost like an open hospital wing. Gabby frowned as she attempted to recall how she could have gotten here; the last thing she could remember was going to bed after playing some FNAF. Gabby was startled out of her thoughts as a bright flash filled the room, originating from behind her. She jumped off the bed, whirling around only to pause as she took in the familiar face. “Markiplier?” Gabby whispered to herself, surprised. She was beginning to wonder if this was the start of a strange dream; it wouldn’t be shocking, with the flashes of light and all that.

Gabby refocused as Mark opened his eyes and sat up. He glanced around, looking confused as well before his eyes landed on her. Mark seemed to examine her, and Gabby shifted on her feet as she glanced down to see what she was wearing. It was her favorite black shirt that read, “I used to be a people person. Then people ruined it.” (Although, she noticed that a Markiplier's Heroes Hearts rested on her sleeve.) Then it was her jeans, black sneakers, and she felt her glasses resting on her face. Gabby glanced back up at Mark while running a hand through her brown pixie cut hair. Having taken in her clothing, she quickly took in what Mark was wearing; he had his glasses on, one of his goofy Markiplier t-shirts (although she noticed his Markiplier’s Heroes heart on one sleeve too), black jeans, and black sneakers as well. Finally, Mark broke the quiet that had settled between them. “So, I don’t remember meeting you, but I do apologize to your dream self if I have. Wonder how your face popped up in my dream, though?”

“Um, I never met you in person before. As this is MY dream, I would expect my mind to know that already.” Gabby told Mark back, raising an eyebrow.

"That can't be right. I had just finished up my first recording of Tattletail then went to bed. There's no way I would know that if this was your dream." Mark teased, "Therefore, you are a part of my dream. The hazing and great Markiplier!"

"So, we both know things that there is no way for the other to know. I didn't know we have never met before, but I've never even heard of a game called Tattletail. Then… could we be sharing a dream somehow? But why…" Gabby mused, trailing off as her eyes glazed over. She seemingly disappeared deep into her head, not flinching as Mark inched his way over and waved his hand in front of her face.

"Um, lady?! I just realized I don't know your name but lady?!" Mark attempted to get her to respond before placing his hand on her shoulder. It was with the physical contact that Gabby jerked, falling out of her thoughts and her eyes focused on Mark.

"Heh, sorry about that. I find it easy to get stuck in my head." Gabby smiled awkwardly, running her hand through her hair.

"That's fine! I just wanted to make sure you were alright." Mark smiled back.

"So, I'm not quite sure how we could have our dreams connect but let's go explore. Don't see much else we can do." Gabby said, shrugging.

"Sure, why not. Just no splitting up, this isn't going to be a horror game." Mark told her. "Not that I'm scared, I don't ever get scared! In fact, any monsters that could be here would probably get scared of my manliness."

"Suuuure, Mark. That's what your Outlast and FNAF playthroughs totally say. What, were those screams supposed to ward off the monsters?" Gabby teased him as they wandered towards the door. Unknown to both of them at this time, this was going to be the start of something great. Something that would be one of the best things that they could do for others and themselves.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

_ A few years later… _

[ ](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a)

Gabby looked proudly out upon the MarkiHub; she still couldn't believe how much the place had grown in just two years. A little while into the first year, they had learned how to construct Mark's alter egos and little companions into physical form. Gabby created some of her own alter egos to help them and soon, the shops and med-bay were running smoothly without the two's interference. Gabby felt a tickling in the back of her mind and with the feeling telling her it was in the training room, she casually headed in that direction. It was funny sometimes, how the Hub helped tell her and Mark where discord was happening at the moment.

As she entered the training room, Gabby let her mind drift to Mark. They had stumbled through figuring out this world together and even though other friends of Mark came after them, the fact they had to figure this out first made them close. They stumbled through that first portal together and had been terrified together when they first encountered the Terrorlings. They needed to trust each other with their lives and protect each other. With everything, it created a bond that could not easily be replaced, not that anyone asked them to; Amy had even admitted to Gabby that she was relieved that Mark had someone to lean on in such a way. "Mark worries so much about being strong for everyone. He tries to take everything on himself because he feels like he needs to. So the fact you two lean on each other like you do to help make this place the best you two can, it helps me relax." Amy told her, gratefulness shining in her eyes. Gabby didn't have the heart to tell her that it made both of them feel worse. They both felt a strong need to help everyone they could and anytime someone got hurt, they felt worse. There were two of them after all, shouldn't one of them have been able to get there before anything happened? Adding on to the fact that one could never blame the other and they could fall into a cycle of self-blame that they found difficult to climb out of.

Gabby gave herself a mental shake; now wasn't the time to be getting lost in her thoughts. Tiny Box Tim had come to retrieve Mark earlier, telling them that someone had appeared in the cabin. It was where other chosen appeared, instead of directly to the hub like her and Mark. Mark had left a few minutes ago to collect them and should be back soon. As soon as the thought entered her head, the sound of the transporter filled the air and Gabby felt a corner of her mouth quirk up. "Speak of the devil and he shall appear," she thought wryly, watching a few people spar with each other. It wasn't long before Mark entered the training room and he glanced around before his eyes landed on her leaning against the wall.

"Hey there, Tiny. Not off bugging one of the egos?" Mark teased her and rested his arm on her shoulder.

"Nah, don't want Wilford or [Ms. M](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) to kill me like they did once to you. And given the fact Google and [Tumblr](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) are also very kill-happy at the moment, I decided to let them cool off before I annoy them again. How's the new person?" Gabby told him, smirking at the look of unease that crossed Mark's face at the mention of Wilford and [Ms. M](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a).

"Why did [Ms. M](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) and [Tumblr](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) get so stab-happy anyways? They were so nice when you first created them." Mark questioned, ignoring her last question for the moment.

Gabby shrugged. "I don't know. Overexposure to Wilford and Google? We did place them together to help keep things organized."

Mark hummed and finally answered her question. "The new gal seemed a little confused at what was going on but also seemed convinced that it was a dream. Which isn't wrong but…"

Gabby nodded; it was understandable. After all, it was what they thought at first before being proven terribly wrong. "Eh, she'll realize that quick enough. Where did ya send her?"

"Told her to follow me here. Guess she decided to explore a bit first." Mark informed Gabby.

"So, you want to see how well she could fight or should I take over?"Gabby asked him after a few moments.

Mark hummed again, thinking, before replying. "I think I'll keep her for training. You want to come with me when I go to see how she'll do on her first mission? We can go on our mission together afterward." Gabby just nodded, no more words escaping her mouth for the time being.

They continued to stand together in silence, waiting for the new girl to enter the room. Gabby immediately noticed when she did; the girl had thick dark brown hair tied in pigtails with yellow ribbons, light brown eyes, a grey shirt with the familiar heart on her sleeve, a blue dress overall, knee-high white socks, and black mary jane shoes. Gabby poked Mark in the side to get his attention and he immediately followed her eyes. She watched as he brightened minutely, his smile growing a little bigger.

"Hey, you done looking around right now?" Mark greeted her, still leaning against Gabby. Gabby playfully glared when he leaned a little heavier on her, pinching his side.

As he jerked away a little, the girl grinned at the interaction, saying, "I am! But, uh, who are you?"

"Hey, I'm Gabby. I appeared at this place at the same time as this doofus. We’re kinda the leaders of this place as a result. Anyways, I'm going to go to the main area of the hub so Mark can teach you how to fight. Oh, before I go, what's your name?" Gabby questioned, head tilting a little to the side.

"Oh, right. I'm Tuump. It's nice to meet you!" The girl, Tuump, told her with a bright smile. Gabby smiled back before exiting the room; she should see how Tiny Box Tim and [Baby Doll Blanche](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) were doing. Then she'd hang out in the main room for Mark and Tuump.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby, all ready for her and Mark's mission tonight, stretched out on the small stage. She liked to lay there sometimes; Mark often called her a tiny kitten when she did. He always said it was because of her size and how she just seemed to claim that spot as her own just like a cat would. Gabby would just laugh and call him a puppy. Always so eager and his floppy hair reminded her of a chocolate retriever. With Gabby so deep in her thoughts, she didn't hear Mark approach her and startled when she felt his ruffle her hair.

"Hey there, kitty cat." Mark greeted with a teasing grin.

Gabby wrinkled her nose and looked up at him with a pout. "I was relaxing. Then you came and startled me, pup. Now the spot is ruined!" At Mark's grin, she began to grin too as she got back down to business. "How was Tuump? She picking her class?"

Mark nodded as he started explaining, "Yeah, took a second but Tuump got the hang of battling quickly. She's picking her class and then I'm going to give her some DreamPoints so she can go to Octodad and [Vale](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a)." Gabby nodded and sat up only to plaster herself to Mark's back. He chuckled, patting her leg as they settled against the stage. "So, you check to see where we're heading tonight?" He asked as he watched over the room.

"You won't like it," Gabby warned Mark before continuing. "We got a girl with major family issues and she's trapped in the Resident Evil seven mansion."

Mark groaned, "Why did it have to be there? I mean, at least it's not Vanish but why Resident Evil seven?"

Gabby patted him on the back. "There, there. At least we can work together. I'm not looking forward to all the puzzles, though." She admitted but then perked up when she spotted Tuump headed their way. “Hey, Tuump! Heard that you were picking a class! What did ya pick?”

Tuump blushed but admitted, “I chose Mage. I thought it would be cool to do magic.”

Gabby grinned, “Well, hey! Glad to have another Mage then! I’m a dark mage with a little flare of my own. Anyways, you will want supplies for your mission. The item shop is right across the way from the weapons shop."

Mark nodded while handing over some DreamPoints. "Here are some DreamPoints TM for you to get started. Oh, and before the last bell, I’ll be giving a small speech. I like to do that sometimes since it can get tough out there, gives everyone some encouragement.”

Tuump raised an eyebrow, “Ok, but did you seriously just say trademark out loud?”

Mark just coughed as Gabby sighed. “Yes, yes, he did. Mark likes to say some weird stuff sometimes. Anyways, off you go. I’m planning on taking a peek at your mission to make sure it won’t be too tough. Mark  _ needs _ to talk to LanokirX about something too. But Mark will be here when you're done! I’ll probably be helping Tim and [Blanche](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a), she’s my mini companion by the way, until it’s mission time. I’ll see you in a little while though.” Gabby beamed at Tuump as she pushed herself off Mark’s back, waving as she wandered to their file room first. She saw Google and [Tumblr](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) conversing in the corner. She ignored them for the moment; [Tumblr](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) didn’t seem particularly murderous in that exact moment, so it wasn’t Gabby’s problem what those two were cooking up. Gabby headed to the computer and turned it on, before searching for Tuump’s name. It popped up fairly quickly; Tuump was heading to help a girl whose family has been having a tough time lately. It’s dragged the girl’s anxiety to the surface and she feels like a burden. Gabby gave a sad hum; her heart always went out to kids like that. Gabby sighed but pulled out her transporter/messaging device and copied the information before sending it off to Mark. Time to help make sure the hospital would be ready for tonight.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby finally left the hospital after giving Tim and [Blanche](https://evil-elf16.tumblr.com/post/615670617522438144/my-ocs-for-a-story-im-making-now-that-i-have-a) a quick hug; they would be heading out to meet her and Mark a little later to provide them with enough time to ascertain that Tuump would be okay on her own. It wasn’t the first time they did this for a new person that didn’t have a team of their own yet and everyone knew what would happen. Gabby cracked her neck as she pushed open one of the double doors, sighing. Gabby started heading across the room to the stage; Mark wanted to give everyone a few words before the third shift bell rang and they both liked to be on stage when he did. It helped them present a united front and showed the new people that even if Mark was busy, they had someone else to turn too. They were never going to be left with no one. Mark was already waiting on the stage for her when she approached. Smiling, he offered her his hand and she accepted it. After being hauled up, they both turned to their small crowd of people; Gabby’s eyes flickered across them all, picking up those she knew to be teams and any new people. Her eyes rested on Tuump for a few moments and the corner of her lips quirked up for a moment; two teams placed themselves beside her and seemed to be probing Tuump for how she happened to get here. Tuump looked a little startled at being the center of attention but handled herself well. Gabby allowed her eyes to flick away again, mentally counting to see if everyone was there. When she assured herself that they had no one else to wait for, her eyes flicked over to Mark. He met her gaze and she nodded at him. Mark beamed and took a step forward, the noise from the crowd filling the room.

Mark cleared his throat before loudly saying to the group, “Alright guys, listen up.” The noise from the crowd drowned him out and Mark tried again with, “Hey now, come on.” As everyone continued chatting, Mark crossed his arms in front of his chest before yelling out, “Hey! SHUT UP!” The crowd went completely silent and Mark coughed.

“Now that I have your attention,” Mark began, arms falling to his side again. “We all know why we’re here. There are dark things out there threatening the well-being of good people. But we’re here to stop them. Each and every one of you has something in your heart that can shine through the darkness and let you reach out to others. Some of you were saved, others were chosen. Chosen by what? Well, to be honest… I have no freaking clue. Me and Gabby have been doing this for a few years now and we still have yet to figure that out.”

There is when Gabby finally stepped forward to continue the speech. “But even so, we don’t let that stop us from fighting. Every night, the darkness attacks but we continue to grow stronger with every person we save. Helping people is what me and Mark are all about and we take this as a chance to continue doing just that. We do want all of you to know that even when things get rough, we believe in you and that you can do it! You all can do whatever you set your minds to and every one of you continues to amaze us every night with your strength and dedication. In the same breath, if it ever becomes too difficult for you to do alone, know that we are all here for you and if you ask for help, it will be given.”

The third shift bell rang out and everyone began to squirm in their seats, the speech helping fan the embers burning in their hearts. Gabby and Mark shared a quick smile before Mark took over speaking again. “One more thing for new people. See the heart that everyone has on their sleeves? It’s the mark of a hero. Not everyone you save will have one, but if they do, it means they’ll be joining our ranks in the fight against the Terrorlings." With that, Mark beamed at the crowd and gave them all a send-off. “Alright everyone! Good luck out there!”

Everyone but Tuump leaped out of their seats in excitement and vaulted onto the stage to try and get to the portal quicker. Gabby laughed at their enthusiasm and with each person that passed her, she would give a quick pat on the shoulder or back and a goodbye. Soon, the once busy Hub was empty. Gabby and Mark hopped off the stage, joining Tuump. Mark had a huge grin plastered on his face and he enthusiastically said, “Let’s go!”

Tuump paused for a moment though, her eyebrow furrowed. “Hang on a second. You said each person had to be saved from the Terrorlings, right?” Mark nodded and Tuump continued with her line of questioning. “Then what about me? I wasn’t being attacked when you came.”

Gabby decided to answer her then. “It’s like Mark said, some of us get chosen. It’s what happened to Mark and me, although we appeared here. Everyone else since has appeared in the cabin you were in. Me and Mark haven’t been able to figure out how it works but when we were given this chance to do some good, we decided to take it.”

Tuump hummed, “I mean, I guess. It’s kind of like helping a stranger who dropped their books, right?”

Gabby blinked and Mark decided to give her some sass, “No… But if that helps you understand, sure!”

Tuump gave him a flat look, and told him, “Hey man, I’ve got enough sass on my own. I don’t need any from you.” Gabby laughed at that and shook her head, wandering towards the portals as the two behind her followed while still squabbling. Time to get this mission started.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Their small group stepped through the portal and landed in a forest. At the moment, Gabby didn't recognize their surroundings but she was sure she or Mark would recognize it soon enough. Tuump marveled at the change of scenery, asking Mark, "So we're in someone else's dream right now?"

Mark glanced over at her and nodded. "Yep! We should hurry and try to find them before the Terrorlings do."

Tuump took a deep breath before walking forwards. Gabby and Mark were ready to start following when they all heard a twig snap. They all froze and went silent; the forest went still again but they still kept quiet. Finally, Tuump broke the silence, "Uh, that’s probably just a cute, harmless forest animal. Right?"

Mark and Gabby exchanged a mischievous look and joined Tuump. Gabby kept a straight face as she said, "Well, it could be or…"

"Or something’s probably watching us and waiting for the right moment to murderlize us!" Mark screeched out before calmly continuing, "I’m kidding."

Gabby chimed in again with a "Kinda.” But as soon as the word left her mouth, the group heard another twig snap.

Tuump looked slightly unimpressed as she asked the two, “Are you guys going to stick with me through my whole first shift?”

Mark grinned at the question and the look on Tuump’s face. “Aw, sick of us already?” Gabby teased Tuump before answering her question, “We’ll stay with you for as long as we can, but we'll eventually have to get back to our objectives.”

They all startled again as they heard bushes rustle. Mark’s face filled with realization and he said, “Oh… Great. I know where we are.”

Tuump looked up at him, her face filled with questioning. “What? Where are we?”

All Mark could say in response before being interrupted was, “This will certainly be an interesting first mission for you.” As soon as the last word left his mouth, a scream filled the air. “Sounds like someone needs help. Let’s go!”

However, before they could take a step to start searching, a girl darted across the path and was followed by three Terrorlings. As Tuump, Gabby, and Mark headed off in the direction the four disappeared in, Gabby could hear Mark and Tuump talk but she thought about the glimpse of the form the Terrorlings took. It was the forms of Slenderman’s proxies; that means they had to be in Slender’s forest. Gabby grimaced as they finally reached the Shadowlings and Tuump caught their attention; Mark was undoubtedly right that it would be an unusual first mission.

Gabby shook her head clear of her thoughts as she evaded an attack; she should focus on the fight. Raising her staff, Gabby blasted one of the Terrorlings with a low-level demon purge and overpowered it, thus quickly destroying it. She turned towards the others and saw that they had each finished off an opponent. Tuump soon noticed the same thing and let out a cheer. “We did it!”

Gabby grinned and gave her a side hug as Mark cheered too. “See? We knew you’d be fine!” The words left Mark’s mouth as twin beeping filled the air from his and Gabby’s transporters; it was time for the to head to their mission.

“Shit. Mark,” Gabby focused her attention on him, her arm still wrapped around Tuump’s shoulders. “We got to get going now.”

Mark nodded, his face serious as he turned to Tuump. “You’ll be okay on your own, right?”

Gabby glanced down and saw some nervousness on Tuump’s face but determination quickly overshadowed it. Tuump nodded with a smile, “Don’t worry, I’ve got this!”

Gabby beamed at her and finally released her from the hug. Mark smiled at her too, while saying, “Good to hear. You’ll have to find that girl that ran away. She still needs your help. And what I meant to say before was that this is the Slender forest. I think you’ll have to collect all eight pages to make it through.” As Mark was explaining, Gabby wandered a few steps away and fiddled with her transporter, catching the dream she and Mark needed to land in. Mark finished up giving his advice with, “Try to stick to the path so you don’t get too lost. Hopefully you won’t have to deal with ol’ Slendy himself. I believe in you! Good luck!”

Gabby threw one last grin over her shoulder, “Good luck kid! You’ll do fine, I just know it!” With that, she threw open her and Mark’s portal and they stepped through. Their vision distorted for a second before the familiar mansion filled their vision. “Ah, Resident Evil 7 mansion. Our favorite place in the world,” Gabby said sarcastically. At Mark’s silence, she glanced over to see him frowning. She laid a hand on his shoulder, gently saying, “Hey, Tuump will be fine, Mark. She’s strong and can obviously handle herself. We made sure she’d be fine. We can’t do much else right now.”

Mark sighed, giving a weak smile. “I know. It’s just… if she gets hurt…”

Gabby’s smile became brittle as she replied, “Then that’s on us. Remember what we said; whatever happens in the dream is our problem, not just one of us. Okay? It will be on us and we can try to do something about it later.”

Mark deep a deep breath and nodded, “You’re right. We’re in this together. Let’s go battle some Terrorlings and save this girl!” Gabby nodded back and tightened her grip on her staff; time to get down to business.


	2. Chapter 2

Gabby transported herself straight into Tuump's mission area and then groaned, stretching her dream self's aching muscles. The terrorlings were swarming in the girl's, Ava's, dream and a few of them managed to get a few good hits on Gabby and Mark. But where she only had a few bruises, Mark had taken most of the hits since Gabby was the one with the healing magic. She had screeched at him for it but Mark had simply laughed and Gabby knew why; it was a song and dance they had multiple times. They often likened it to Star Trek's Bones and Kirk friendship; one would get heavily injured while fighting and then the other would curse the other out while healing them during those same breaths. And it was more logical to do it that way; they both could take a considerable beating but as a warrior, Mark could take more than Gabby since she was more of a distance fighter while he would get close and personal, thus allowing enemies to get hits in. Gabby sighed but noticed as an exit portal opened on the wall she was near. "Good, Tuump saved the girl. She should be arriving soon," Gabby thought.

She sat down on the grass and, using a bit of her magic, started to make images out of flames. She loved watching the fire dance and when she made images, even without her moving it with magic, Gabby always felt that they looked alive. She smiled and carefully started to mold a dragon out of the flames, adding the smallest of details to make it as realistic as possible. She was still doing this when Gabby finally heard rapid footfalls fill the air. She extinguished the flame and stood up, her face beaming. As soon as Tuump came into sight with a girl with purple hair by her side, Gabby greeted them. " Hey, Tuump! We knew you could do it. We were…"

Gabby started to talk but was cut off as Tuump screamed out, "GET IN THE PORTAL!"

Gabby jerked back, a little confused. "What's up with the yelling? You two ok?"

Tuump didn't answer her question, instead choosing to scream, "JUST DO IT!" 

Gabby stood ready by the portal, ready to hop through after them but before Tuump and the girl reached her, Slenderman appeared between them; Gabby cursed, realizing that's what the yelling was all about. Slendy must have been chasing them all around the forest. Gabby had her staff materialize and rushed forwards, knowing they would need to battle Slenderman to get those two out here. Tuump seemed to realize the same thing and settled into a defensive stance, her wooden staff also appearing in her hand. Slender attempted to attack Tuump with his black, writhing tentacles but Gabby reacted quickly, blasting them off course with a black ball of pure energy. Slender's snarl of irritation filled Gabby's mind and he quickly turned towards her, his long arms reaching in her direction. She pushed herself backwards and felt the air in front of her whistle as Slendy's fingers grazed the area her body was moments ago. She could see Tuump focusing on slowly destroying the tentacles and Gabby smirked, focusing back on Slendy again. She pulled up a massive well of magic and pulled on the spirits of her ancestors while continuing to dodge Slender's attacks. She then unleashed the spirits and they swarmed him, their ghostly fingers scratching at him. He roared in agony and focused all his attention on Gabby.

"Aw, did that hurt you, you big baby?" Gabby taunted him, conjuring up her own terrorling to help. "Maybe it's time for you to take a nap!" With a final burst of magic from Tuump and Gabby, Slender was destroyed, nothing remaining but a small pile of ash. Gabby took a deep breath and turned towards Tuump and the girl that was saved. "So, that was exciting. But let's hurry and get back to the hub."

"The hub? What's that?" The purple-haired girl stammered, looking nervously at the spot where Slendy just stood.

Gabby gave her a soft smile, "It's a safe place. Come on; I'll explain more once we're there." The girl glanced at Tuump and was given a reassuring smile that seemed to put her at ease. They all headed to the portal and stepped through. However, only Gabby and the girl emerged on the other side. As she began to panic about where Tuump went, Gabby attempted to calm her. "It's okay. Tuump probably woke up when we were going through. I promise she'll be here tomorrow. Let me explain to you what's going on, okay?"

The girl took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok. Tuump trusted you so… so I'll do the same."

Gabby smiled, relieved. "That's great. Come on; I've got someone I want you to meet."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next night, Gabby was in the training room and helping a mage master a new move they had gotten from a skill stone. The skill stones were rare and the only people to have gathered all the known skills were Mark and Gabby herself. Therefore, it was up to them to show others how to master them. Tim had gotten Yandere Screech and Gabby was particularly good at it so she had ushered Mark out to greet the person who just appeared before focusing back on her lesson.

“One of the things that you need to remember with the screech is that it’s kinda powered by emotions. So unlike the physical damage or ‘mana’ you use normally, this is.what you can use when feeling strong emotions so you have to focus on something you know gives you strong emotions, kinda like a patronus from Harry Potter. At that point, you can use the screech. If you happen to find other stones, they can be used in the same way. However, each skill could use stronger or weaker emotions than the others. So some you may be able to use more than once if you feel strongly enough. With Yandere Screech, you can use it twice if your emotions are strong enough.” She finally took a pause to see if Tim was still following and at his nod, Gabby continued. “So, now that you understand how it works and you accidentally realized how to use it earlier, why don’t you attack the dummy over there and build up some emotion before trying it out. Come find me if you need help, okay?”

“I will. Thanks for the help Gabby!” Tim grinned before pulling out his bo staff and heading over to the dummy. Gabby gave a small smile at his retreating back then glanced around the training room. There were only a few others in the room; Dave and Daisy seemed to be arguing about something while Damien was just staring at a mannequin. Gabby stretched out, popping her back and headed to the far wall and leaned against it. She watched over the whole room and, therefore, noted when Mark entered into the room. Gabby stayed where she was as he approached, noting how the smile on his face seemed to be a little fixed. Of course Gabby already knew what was going on; they had witnessed two people come to blows earlier and, while not knowing what had started the argument, both of them had taken it harder than they should have. They put so much effort into trying to keep the Markihub a positive place and so far, there had been only a few fights that dissolved to actual fighting and they took it hard every time. As she mused on this, Mark had finally reached her and she held out an arm to invite him into a side embrace. Mark took the invitation and leaned against the wall beside her as they held each other, watching over the training room.

Finally, Gabby broke the silence, “We both know that with what we do, things like that aren’t exactly going to never happen.” She sighed then, resting her head on Mark’s shoulder. “We’ll continue blaming ourselves though because this place is our baby. We worked hard to get this place where it is.”

Mark sighed then too, responding, "Yeah, but we'll be fine. We got through small rough patches with this place before. We'll get through this one."

Gabby groaned. "Yeah, I know. It just feels crappy for us every time." Mark nodded, tightening his hold on her for a moment before releasing Gabby.

"I suppose you need to be going then, check up on the med-area?" He questioned and Gabby nodded.

"I do. You'll keep an eye on the training room then?" Gabby confirmed, and seeing Mark's nod, she pushed off the wall. "I'm going to talk to Wade quick but then I'll go." She grabbed one last quick hug from Mark before disappearing out the door. Before she could go far, Tuump and Blermf tumbled out the armory, giggling. They perked up when they saw Gabby and walked up to her.

"Hey Gabby!" Tuump greeting, her smile bright.

Blermf was less exuberant but still gave a soft smile and a quiet, "Hi Gabby."

Gabby smiled back at the two, "Hey girls. Saw you just came out of the armory. You choose your class Blermf? And did you choose your upgraded class, Tuump?"

Blermf brightened more as she responded, "Yeah, I decided on Mage. It's what I normally choose in video games."

Tuump took over then and said, "I decided to be a Nature Mage!"

"Well, always glad to hear about another Mage. And if your tactical, which I think you are Tuump, then Nature Mage is a good pick. Anyways, I'm sure you were looking for Mark. He's in the training room. I need to talk to Wade quick and then I'll be in the med-area if you need anything. See you around!" Gabby told them, having them each a quick hug before jogging off to the main area. Wade said he would find out about the mission tonight and she wanted to know what they were heading into.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby laughed as she, Mark, and Wade all stepped through the portal, leaving behind the Layers of Fear house. “Come on, Mark. Just admit it. Me and Wade both saw you jump twenty feet in the air when the baby doll heads fell from the ceiling. We promise not to tease you  _ too _ much,” Gabby teased Mark.

“This is betrayal! Betrayal! You side with  _ Wade _ over me, your big bro? I can’t believe it,” Mark exclaimed dramatically.

Wade and Gabby laughed and she jumped onto Mark’s back. “Aw, come on, Mark. We as your friends are meant to tease you when you do stuff like that. We don’t care that you were scared of baby doll heads,” Wade jumped in.

Mark groaned and sent Wade a playful glare. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted when a huge crash sounded from the library. All of their heads whipped in that direction and, upon Gabby leaping from Mark’s back, all three of darted in that direction. They burst through the door and saw that Delcan and Brandon were wrestling with each other; while that would normally be no cause for concern, the fact they were spitting nasty things at each other indicated that this was no playful match. “Google, Tumblr. Help me get the non-fighters out of the room in a  _ peaceful _ fashion,” Gabby cried while Mark and Wade headed for the boys. The three quickly had the room cleared and Gabby turned back to the boys, who were now across the room and glaring at each other.

“Alright, now that you two aren’t trying to kill each other, mind letting us know what the hell is going on?” Mark questioned, a serious look on his face as he glanced between the two boys.

Neither boy answered for a few minutes, simply glaring at the other before Delcan finally relented. “I was looking into Brandon’s file. He froze tonight at our place, the house from Among the Sleep. I was worried but he wouldn’t tell me what was going on. So, when we got back, I decided to just look at his file and see what it could have been. I had only just received his file when Brandon came in. He saw me with it and blew up. What happened after that was more of a blur, we both got so angry, then we were fighting, and then you all come in and the fights over.”

Brandon spoke up at the end, “I told you that I didn’t want to say because I wasn’t ready! Then I find you trying to sneak behind my back about it, how else did you think I was going to respond?”

“Alright, both of you calm down. Brandon, you may have felt angry at what Delcan did but that didn’t give you the right to throw a punch at him,” Gabby stated while looking in his direction before turning to look at Delcan. “And Delcan, it was wrong of you to push the issue when Brandon clearly wasn’t ready to reveal it. You should have been more considerate of the fact the Brandon was ready to talk about it yet.” The two boys shrunk a little under her scolding but nodded. A few minutes later and Gabby, Mark, and Wade all left the room as the two boys talked about the incident. Sighing, the two Hub leaders threw a small smile at Wade.

“Hey, thanks for the help Wade,” Mark said, running a hand through his hair.

“It was no problem. It would have been a little harder on you guys if I didn’t jump in,” Wade shrugged. “Anyways, why don’t we start talking to the others that have already come back, see how they’re doing.”

Mark and Gabby nodded before the three split up to different teams; time to get back to work.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby didn’t notice when Tuump and Blermf came back until she heard someone exclaim, “Oh my god, Wade! It’s so awesome to meet you, man!”

She didn’t turn around just yet but could hear Wade’s response as clear as day, “You might say it’s a real dream come true, eh?”

“Aaaaaaah,” she heard the first voice respond and when she glanced in that direction, she saw that Wade, Tuump, Blermf, and the new person talking, with the new person also giving Wade finger guns.

Mark must have heard too, as he yelled out, “So help me Wade, I will throw you into a horror game by yourself!”

Gabby decided to throw her own threat in and stated, “And I’ll make sure that game is Outlast! You’ll have to deal with teddy bear man then!” With that, she focused back on finishing up her conversation and heard Tuump, Blermf, and the pink-haired person come up behind her. “Hey, Tuump, Blermf! Glad to see you are okay and came back with another person. What’s your name?”

The new person shrugged and said, “Flampt. And yours?”

“This is Gabby! She and Mark are the ones who made this place into what it is,” Blermf exclaimed excitedly.

Gabby laughed. “Well, that would be me.” She frowned as she took in the group appearance. “Hey you all look a bit beat up. You should go get healed up by Tim and Blanche. Can you two show him the way?” Gabby directed her question towards Tuump and Blermf but was quickly distracted as Flampt quicking cut in.

“Um, it’s they,” Flampt cut in nervously.

Gabby blinked for a minute confused but understanding soon dawned on her face. “Oh, you mean your pronouns?”

Flampt nodded their head, “Yeah, they/them.”

Gabby smiled at them, “I’ll be sure to remember that then.”

Flampt smiled back, “Thanks.”

“Anyways, we just wanted to talk to you and Mark quick. We’ll go to Tim and Blanche after we talk to Mark, ok?” Tuump promised.

“Alright, but make sure you do. It’s the worst when you wake up and you’re all achy,” Gabby said before pulling all three of them into a hug. She heard a clap come from by the armory before she released them and paled as she saw a crack forming on the wall. She quickly schooled her face and released the small team. “Alright, go on. But can you let Mark know I want to talk to him quick when you’re done? I just remembered something,” the small lie slipped off her lips as she took a small glance at the crack. Tuump nodded and wandered in Mark’s direction with the other two. Gabby took a deep breath and walked briskly towards the wall and leaned against it.

She and Mark both knew what it was, had encountered it before in a dreamscape. It fed off the you or your teammates’ insecurities before dropping them into their own nightmare; they called them gloom-holes. The fact one was forming here, in Mark and Gabby’s shared dream space wasn’t a good sign. They re-enforced these walls with positive emotions and things like that so it would ward off the darkness. But if Mark and Gabby grew weaker, the darkness could start chipping away at the defenses and create the gloom-holes.

Gabby sighed and leaned her head against the wall. Closing her eyes, she evaluated her emotions; she was, on the surface, happy but as she dug deeper, she felt guilt, self-hatred, and self-disgust. Despite knowing that it was most likely what was helping cause the crack, she couldn’t find it in herself to let those emotions go. She deserved it for not noticing the fact that two fights had brewed under her nose on the same day; and what had she been doing both times? Laughing and joking around, not paying attention to the people, this small community of fighters she and Mark had cultivated. They both encouraged everyone to talk out your problems and to show kindness to others but they must be failing. Sighing again, she opened her eyes and glanced around; Gabby could see Mark approach her and, upon seeing a quick flash of melancholy cross her face, he gave her his own sad smile.

“Whatcha need me for kitty cat?” Mark said, attempting to be playful. Gabby didn’t say a word but moved away from the crack so he could see it.

As his eyes widened, Gabby gave one last soft sigh. “I saw it when I was talking to Tuump, Blermf, and Flampt. I hate it but,” Here Gabby licked her lips before continuing. “We need to talk in private about this. We promised to not let these gloom-holes ever take over this place.”

Mark nodded, his face grave. “Talk in a few in the training room?”

Gabby nodded back. “I’m going to head to the library, see if the file on these were updated. Then I’ll meet you there.” Gabby began to walk away before hesitating for a moment. She turned and lunged towards Mark for a quick hug, then finally left towards the library. Time to do some research.


	3. Chapter Three

Gabby groaned, rubbing at her eyes as she heard the first shift bell sound. She cracked her neck as she glanced around the library; she saw Google and Tumblr flicking through files and two others reading some of the MarkiHub’s books. Gabby sighed as she closed the dark blue book she had been studying; from the time Gabby had noticed the crack until she had to wake up yesterday and when she had fallen asleep that night, she had been researching the gloom-holes. It was with disappointment that besides records of others encountering them, there was no new information. She heard a dark whispering fill her ears, “ _ Isn’t this such a failure on your part. Can’t even find information to keep everyone safe. Why should they rely on you to help them with anything? _ ” She forced herself to ignore the voice; it wasn’t a recent development, she and Mark often heard it when on missions but it had only just started whispering to them in the Hub. Gabby theorized that the gloom-hole was what allowed for it to happen. Finally, Gabby stood up, taking the book over to Google and Tumblr. “Hey Google, Tumblr,” she greeted the androids.

Google ignored her while Tumblr glanced up, giving an annoyed look. “What is it? Google and I are simultaneously plotting humanities demise and filling out these new humans files. I would like to get back to doing that,” Tumblr huffed.

Gabby eyed the two warily; apparently this was one of Tumblr’s bad days. “No killing anyone,” Gabby told them, causing both to roll their eyes. Continuing on, Gabby stated, “I just wanted to give this book back and ask for information on Flampt’s mission tonight.”

Tumblr took the blue book and, with barely a glance, placed it on one of the shelves behind her. Then she opened up her holographic interface and typed out a few commands before spinning it to face Gabby. “Be quick, human.”

Gabby chuckled fondly, scrolling through the file before pausing as she noted the location. She sighed through her nose. “Thanks, Tumblr. I’m done. I’ll see you two later.” With a nod in Tumblr and Google’s direction, Gabby swept out of the file room in search of Mark. She headed straight for the training room first and sure enough, there Mark was. She watched from the doorway as he guided a newbie, Arya, through a couple of different attacks and smiled at how relaxed he looked. Finally, she felt the need to intervene and walked over.

The moment Mark saw Gabby, his face brightened and he called out a greeting. “Hey, there kitty! What’s up?”

Gabby laughed. “Hey, there pup. Nothing much, just need to talk to you about a few things in a second.” She turned her attention to Arya. “Hey, Arya. The big doofus not being too difficult?” Gabby joked, winking at the girl. Arya giggled, shaking her head.

“He was silly but he helped me learn a new move!” Arya told Gabby, excited.

“Really? That’s great,” Gabby told her, smiling.

Mark started to playfully pout. “I see how it is you two. There are two girls here now so little Mark is no longer relevant. I don’t know how I’ll  _ ever _ survive.”

Gabby let out a loud laugh. “Alright, you big baby. I’m afraid I’ll have to steal away Mark now, Arya. Will you be okay?” Arya nodded and enthusiastically rushed off to one of the practice dummies. Gabby shook her head fondly before turning to Mark and ushering him to a corner of the room.

“Alright little sis, lay it on me,” Mark exclaimed.

“There’s two things,” Gabby stated, the smile her face held dropping with Mark’s doing the same in response. “First, the more urgent subject; no one has any new information on the gloom-holes. Not many have come across them and when they do, they haven’t exactly focused on studying them. All that I can think of to do is keep an eye on it. But with the amount of fights breaking out and…” Gabby hesitated here, taking a deep breath before continuing. “And with our weakened emotional states, it has a high chance of growing bigger.”

Mark sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Alright. Nothing we didn’t already guess so we’ll just keep on doing what we’re doing then. So what’s the second thing you wanted to talk about?”

“Flampt’s mission,” Gabby responded.

“What about their mission?” Mark asked, eyebrows furrowing.

“I looked at what their mission was going to be and noticed that you had approved of them going solo for their first mission. I’m evoking that and want to put them with Tuump and Blermf because we would never go into the dream they are alone.  _ Ever, _ ” Gabby said seriously.

Mark slumped, groaning out, “Oh god, which is it?”

“Vanish,” Gabby sighed, wiping her hand over her face.

“Shit,” Mark breathed out, “Yeah, they aren’t going into that mission alone. I’ll go find them and let them know. Then I’ll find Tuump and Blermf to let them know too.”

Gabby nodded. “I plan on checking in on Octodad and Vale. See if they’ll need us to get them any supplies that they could be running low on. Doubt it though with the way people sell items to them.”

Mark hummed, “That’s a good idea. See you in a few minutes?”

“Yeah, I just plan on a quick stop and go in the shop,” Gabby confirmed. “I’ll find you right after, okay?” Mark nodded and pulled her into a big hug, which she returned. Then Gabby released Mark with a teasing, “Be good pup!” She laughed while running out of the room, Mark’s indignant squawk filling the room behind her.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby leaned against Mark as they chatted with Jack. "Tim and Blanche are thrilled to be hanging out with Sam tonight," she said, amused. "Had to make them calm down before you guys appeared."

Jack chuckled. "Sam was the same way. Thought he was ‘bout to start bouncing off the walls while I got ready to come over."

Mark shook his head fondly. "Those three are so powerful but they're just like children, aren't they?"

"They are," Gabby confirmed. She noted as Tuump, Blermf, and Flampt wandered closer. "Our newest team is coming in at one o'clock."

Jack and Mark glanced over before Jack nodded. "I'll hang elsewhere for a bit. You two talk to them."

Mark smiled, "Thanks, dude."

After Jack walked away, the small team reached Gabby and Mark. "Hey, guys! We're all good to go," Blermf told them.

  
  


Mark nodded but Gabby spoke up before he could say anything, "Just a second guys. Flampt, I want to apologize. I know you told Mark that you wanted to work alone but being on a team, especially with the location you all are heading too is a good idea."

Flampt shrugged their shoulders before crossing their arms. "It's fine. But what has you two so worked up about this mission?" 

  
  


Tuump got a teasing look on her face. “You’re not scared of something that’s out there, are you Mark, Gabby? Is it Warfstache and Ms. M or something?”

Mark squawked in indignation, “I’m not scared of them or anything else! Nothing scares me!”

Gabby jabbed Mark in the side, glancing around nervously. "Oh, uh… nowhere too special. We've been there exactly once and uh… we just don't like the place." Then quiet enough for only Mark to hear, "Damn changing hallways and creepy mole men."

“Uh, huh. Yeah, sure. We’ve all seen you scream at jumpscares, Mark,” Tummp teased him. Then she turned to Gabby, “What’s the place?”

Gabby coughed while Mark spluttered beside her. “I… Uh… Well… You know what?! Let’s do this Gabby! We ain’t no babies!” Mark said firmly, staring at the small team in front of them.

Gabby sighed, “I suppose I should definitely go with. Make sure that you don’t get murderlized or something.” She flopped onto her back to stare mournfully at the ceiling. “I was so happy we weren’t going there. I hate it there. It’s stupid.”

Tuump laughed. “Alright!” As soon as the word left her mouth, the third shift bell rang out.

Gabby groaned pushing herself off the floor; unnoticed by her, her transporter fell out of her pocket. She brushed herself off, “Let’s go to me and Mark’s place of torture.”

Mark hummed, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “Come on, we aren’t babies and it can’t be that bad. I mean, maybe it was because we were still pretty new to all of this.” Gabby just gave him a deadpan look, the three others trailing behind them. They reached the portal and with a single glance upward for strength, she and Mark leaped through the portal.

As soon as their feet hit the ground of the halls of Vanish, Mark and Gabby immediately became nervous. “Oh, no…” she breathed as she stared out into the darkness.

“Ugh, damn my competitiveness,” Mark cursed himself, immediately grabbing Gabby and telling Tuump, Blermf, and Flampt, “Nope. Fuck this. We’re big babies and we don’t care who knows!” Gabby nodded fervently at his words, still eyeing the dark halls. “You guys can handle this. We’re getting out of here.” Mark activated his transporter but paled when the screen simply went dark. He laughed nervously, “Gabs, you have yours right?”

“Yeah, it’s in my…” Gabby started only to trail off when she didn’t find it on her person. “I don’t… Why did I agree to go? I could be with Jack, Sam, Tim, and Blanche. I could be having a wonderful time right now.” She laminated her situation as she pulled out her staff and made sure she was ready to fight at any time.

Flampt laughed at them. “It’s okay, everyone gets a little performance anxiety sometimes.”

Mark ignored them, complaining, “Auugghhh! Why me! I hate this game! You see?! This is why we didn’t let you do this mission solo. This place is a douche! I had to quit YouTube because of this game!”

Tuump’s voice sounded out, asking one simple question. “This is Vanish, isn’t it?”

Gabby groaned. “Don’t speak its name, it’s evil. Creepy mole men and changing hallways.”

Flampt looked at them, baffled. They addressed Mark, choosing to ignore Gabby’s mutterings. “It’s not like you actually quit…”

“I had to quit YouTube!” Mark stated firmly as he stared Flampt in the eye.

Blermf giggled a little. “No wonder you two have been freaking out so much.”

“I hate it! It’s took me a year to finally beat it!” Mark grumbled, looking displeased.

“I don’t know, it wasn’t that hard…” Flampt said.

“Shhhhh…” Gabby shushed them. “It is a nightmare of a game and we hate it. No one should ever play the game ever. Me and Mark both cried over that game. We were terrified the first time we landed here. We. Do. Not. Like. This. Place.” Gabby told the group, stressing each word of the last sentence.

“At least I finally beat it! A lot of people have never beaten it!” Mark said, still displeased at being in Vanish.

Blermf glanced around nervously. “Mark, um… M-maybe you should be a little quieter? We don’t want the monsters to hear.”

Gabby froze and began peering suspiciously at the darkness. “You better not be near creepy mole men,” she muttered.

“Ugh, you’re right,” Mark sighed, noticeably quieter now. “Fine, let’s go and get this over with so we can get out of here. Where should we try to go first? The generator room maybe?”

Blermf hummed. “Well, if I remember correctly, that’s where the glow sticks were and those were pretty useless…”

Flampt sighed, pushing a strand of hair out of their face. “Why don’t we just get moving? We’re not getting anywhere just standing around.”

Gabby nodded. “We can figure out where we want to try and go as we walk. It’ll be easier than just standing around and debating it.” Everyone agreed and they started their trek down the hall, quiet mutterings floating around the group. But soon Mark and Gabby pulled everyone to a quick halt as the spotted a note.

Blermf was quick to notice it too. “Hey, guys. Look!”

Gabby plucked the note off the ground to read it out loud. “There’s something down here. Something dangerous.” She scoffed as she placed it back. “Yeah, creepy mole men are down here.”

Tuump hummed in agreement. “Yep, we know what they’re talking about.”

“Yep. Just some terrifying murderous mole men. You know, the usual!” Mark said, voice cracking a little. Gabby snickered at that.

“Wait,” Tuump said, eyebrows furrowing. “Didn’t you guys say that you had your own mission you had to go on with Jack?”

“Yeah, but he’ll be alright. Despite those skinny arms, Jack’s a pretty tough dude,” Mark told her, shrugging.

“Plus he has Sam, Tim, and Blanche with him. They’ll all be fine,” Gabby agreed, glancing between the three hallways they could go down.

“Oh, yeah. I saw them all in the hub. Is Jack here all the time?” Blermf questioned.

“Nah, Jack has his own hub with people to help out,” Gabby said absently, staring down the left hallway and cocking her head; was that some scuffling she heard?

Mark shook his head at Gabby, continuing, “Sometimes he comes over and we all go on missions together.” 

“It’s like doing collabs for videos,” Blermf stated, excited by the thought.

Mark chuckled, watching as Gabby, who was no longer paying attention to the group, started wandering towards the left hallway. As he gently grasped her wrist so she couldn’t go far, Mark glanced at Blermf. “Yeah, I guess it kinda is,” he said smiling a little.

Gabby glanced back at feeling Mark grab her wrist and pouted. “Mark,” she whined. “I thought I heard something, I want to go scout and see if it’s the mole men. That way I know exactly where not to go.”

Mark sighed, exasperated, but before he could say anything, Tuump cut in. “Wait, Gabby’s right. Did you guys hear that?” No one answered as they saw a guy dressed entirely in red dart from the left hallway into the intersection. But as he turned to go down the hallway the team was in, he was startled to see them. Screaming out, the red guy took off down the hallway opposite of them. Then Mark and Gabby tensed as mole men appeared from where the guy came from.

“Go! You guys get out of here,” Mark told the small team urgently, preparing to run.

“We can deal with the mole men. They’re much stronger than the Shadowlings,” Gabby continued, eyes locked onto the monsters. Without waiting for an answer they darted out into the hallway in front of it.

“We’re going to regret this,” Mark whined.

“Fuck this game,” Gabby agreed. Then, taking a deep breath, they shouted together, “Over here, ugly mole men!” As the mole men dart towards them, Mark and Gabby took off in the other direction.

“Fuck, this was a bad idea!” Mark screeched as they pumped their legs as fast as the could.

“We should have definitely not done this!” Gabby yelled back. Taking twists and turns, they tried shaking their pursuers to no avail. “Fuck, I remember why I hate the mole men,” Gaby gasped out as they took a hard right.

“Same,” Mark panted, glancing behind them, seeing that they had gained some distance between them and the mole men. Eventually, they seemed to have lost them and stopped to catch their breath. “I think we lost them,” Mark told Gabby as they both stood up straight.

Gabby glanced back and her eyes widened. “Nope, nevermind, there they are!” she screamed, grabbing Mark’s hand and taking off again. Her eyes widened more as she saw spikes appear in their path. Dodging around them, she started screeching, “Where are all these spikes coming from?”

“I don’t know but run!” Mark screeched back. They had to come to a stop though when they hit a dead end. “Let’s just not look at the mole man and stay right here. Maybe he’ll go away,” Mark breathed out quietly to Gabby as they stood completely still by the wall. They listened to the sound of the monsters’ heavy breathing and scuffling footsteps for minutes, holding each other’s hand in a death grip. Eventually, they heard as the two walked away from them and sighed in relief. “That was close,” Mark said, relieved. “Now we just need to get back.” However, before they could even go more than a few feet, the mole men came rushing back prompting screams from them both.

“Oh come on, we barely walked!” Mark whined, preparing to fight.

“Fuck you, mole men!” Gabby screeched, materializing her staff and brandishing it at the monster. With that, the two began their deadly dance. Mark would dart in close to the mole man and attack it before lunging backward to let Gabby launch her own barrage of spells on it. The mole men would manage to land a hit on one and the other would force the two to focus on them so the other could recover. In what felt like no time at all but was really multiple minutes, the mole men were destroyed.

“Time to find the others,” Mark groaned, nursing a couple of slashes. Gabby waved her hand, using minor healing magic to help them recover from their injuries. “Man, I forgot how scary this game can be…” Mark muttered.

Gabby froze as she realized what they did. “And we left the kids on their own while we ran away,” she sighed, guilt curling in her chest.

Mark didn’t respond as they heard the familiar dark whispering fill their ears. “ _ That’s rather cowardly of you two. You don’t deserve to be the ones they look up to. _ ”

Mark sighed too. “Yeah, yeah, we know…” he said, guilt etched on his face. Gabby rubbed her face as tears stung at her eyes.

“ _ They could be hurt now. You left them for no reason other than to be cowards, _ ” the voices hissed.

Gabby felt her thoughts begin to spiral but shook herself out of it. “No.. Stop it… It’s okay. We left them to lead the monsters away. It’s fine,” she scolded the voices.

Mark shook his head and rubbed the back of his neck. “God, we’re a mess,” he groaned. Shaking his head once more, he looked at Gabby, stating, “Let’s find the kids.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark and Gabby felt exhausted. They had been searching everywhere to attempt to find the kids and had to fight multiple monsters along the way. Eventually, they reached the boiler room and entered, relieved to find the kids plus the one they needed to save. Mark sighed in relief, “There you all are! Is everyone alright? We shouldn’t have left you.” Gabby and Mark fretted over the four, checking to make sure they were all okay.

Tuump grinned at seeing the two mother-hen everyone. “We’re fine. How did you guys get away from those things?”

Gabby grinned, those it was slightly strained (though only truly noticeable to Mark), “We used our awesome Gabby and Mark skills of course!” At everyone’s disbelieving looks, a stab of guilt ran through Gabby ( _ They don’t believe in you cause you’ve failed them. Why would they believe you after you ran away. Failure. _ ) but she placed a pout on her face. “Come on guys. We did!”

Trump gave a fond chuckle. “Anyways, we can leave now, right?” she questioned, her head tilting a little to the side.

Mark and Gabby paused, Gabby giving an awkward cough as Mark hesitantly started to explain, “Uh… Well...”

“Well, what?!” the guy in red asked impatiently.

“My teleporter still isn’t working,” Mark told the group, “That means we can’t use it to open a portal here. We’ll have to find the dream’s exit.”

“Dream’s have exits?” Flampt questioned, raising their eyebrow.

“Yeah, of course!” Gabby confirmed, “They’re the portals that appear when a mission is over. Speak of which, it looks like you found them. What’s your name?”

“I’m Dooooooop,” he introduced, looking like he was unimpressed with all of them. “You’re Markiplier, right?” He directed at Mark.

“The one and only!” Mark said, grinning, “...at least, I hope there’s only one of me. That’d be weird… Unless you count Warfstache...” Shaking his head, Mark laid a hand on Gabby’s shoulder, introducing her, “This is Gabby, my partner in crime here!”

She grinned, tilting an imaginary hat at Dooooooop. “That’ll be me, it’s certainly nice to meet you.”

Tuump sighed at the two’s antics, “Mark, Gabby, please.”

Gabby straightened up, remembering that they would need to help guide the group through finishing this mission. “Sorry,” she told Tuump, giving a sheepish smile.

Flampt took over, throwing out a question, “So, about that dream exit? How do we find it?”

“Logically, it should be behind the gate you reach to finish the game,” Mark told them, rubbing his chin.

“Then, I guess we should try to find the keys,” Blermf said, humming in thought.

“Alright, team! Move out!” Tuump said, excited to continue the mission. The whole group exited the boiler room and began to travel the halls, looking for one of the other boiler rooms to find the key. At one part, there was a small amount of panic when they couldn’t find Tuump but she appeared again and the group continued on. Gabby sighed; god she hated Vanish.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby sighed in relief when her feet hit the Hub’s floor; it was official, she still hated Vanish. Although she frowned as she eyed Tuump and Flampt. The mission could have easily gone much worse with all the fighting they did. Although she did blink when she suddenly heard Dooooooop say, “Woah! What is this place?”

“Welcome to the Hub,” Gabby turned, giving him a slightly pained grin.

Mark leaned on Gabby, giving a grin of his own as he continued, “This is where people hang out before and after missions.”

Dooooooop’s eyebrows furrowed. “Missions?” he questioned.

Mark sighed. “I’ll explain while Tim and Blanche takes care of us all. C’mon.”

The group followed after Mark and Gabby as they led them to the infirmary. As the made the small trek, Gabby lowered her voice so only Mark could hear her words. “I’m going to talk to Blanche about how the mission with Jack went before finding where I put my transporter. Can you talk to…”

Bafre Gabby could even finish her sentence, Mark nodded, cutting her off. “I will. That can’t be allowed to continue happening. I’ll have Tim heal us before making them talk it out.” Gabby nodded and as they entered the infirmary, split off from the group to head towards Blanche. Glancing back at the group for just a moment, Gabby could only hope that Tuump and Flampt could reach an understanding; she feared for how well the team would fare otherwise during their missions.


	4. Chapter Four

Gabby sighed, rubbing at her eyes as she shuffled away from yet another fight she had to break up. It was the fourth one that she or Mark had found since appearing in the Hub, and Gabby felt drained. Her eyes fell on Tuump’s team but didn’t approach them, instead heading over to Mark. “Hey,” she sighed, hopping up to sprawl out on the stage next to him. She was exhausted from breaking up the fights and plus, she and Mark had spent the day playing multiplayer games for Mark to upload to youtube later.

Mark eyed her, sighing too. “Another fight?” he asked, already knowing the answer.

“Yeah, Marinette and Sam. Don’t know what started it, but I managed to break it up fairly quickly,” Gabby told him, closing her eyes and forcing her body to relax.

Mark sighed again. “The fights are getting worse,” he said quietly.

“They are and the gloom hole with it,” Gabby said just as quietly. She opened her eyes and pushed herself upright. “I just hope it doesn’t get worse while on we’re on the mission.” Gabby hummed in contemplation suddenly, glancing at Amy and Kathryn. “Hey, did Amy, Kathryn, or Bob tell us what the mission is tonight?”

Mark groaned, “No! I begged and pleaded with them, even using the puppy dog eyes, but they still didn’t tell me.”

Gabby laughed. “Come on, let’s go bug them again. Maybe together, we can whittle it out of…” Faint yelling cut her off, and she whipped her head in that direction. She sighed as she realized it was coming from the weapons shop. “Hold onto that thought. You stay here, and I’ll take this one. Let’s hope I can break this up quickly.” At Mark’s nod, Gabby trekked over towards the fight. Today was just going great, wasn’t it?

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby laughed as she stumbled out of the portal with Kathryn. “Mark, Bob, your faces,” she choked out before erupting into giggles again.

Mark and Bob were sulking; they had frogs jump on them and wrap their arms and legs around their heads. It took Gabby, Amy, and Kathryn’s combined efforts to pry the frogs off them. The looks of absolute horror that had been on Bob and Mark’s face had made it difficult, as the girls had all erupted into a fit of giggles at the sight that had yet to fade. “At least the person we saved was sent through the portal right before that happened,” Amy offered, trying to comfort the two boys.

Mark sighed, “That does help a little.” Bob continued to pout, causing Gabby to start playfully cooing over him.

“Aw, come on Bobling. It wasn’t that bad. And no one witnessed the hit to your pride that hasn’t already seen worse,” Gabby teased. Bob finally laughed and shook his head with a sigh.

“I suppose your right,” he admitted, chuckling a little.

“Of course, us females are always right!” Gabby exclaimed, looking very pleased. She glanced around before continuing, “Anyways, I’m going to drop these supplies off to Octodad and Vale. See you guys later!”

Amy and Kathryn smiled. “We’ll probably be waking up soon, so we’ll see you next time,” Amy said, pulling Gabby into a quick farewell hug and Kathryn doing the same after Amy released her. Gabby flashed a grin at them and walked to the shop, a small bounce in her step. The day may have started badly, but the mission tonight helped cheer her up for a little while. For right now, she needed to visit a particular octopus and half-demon for a few minutes.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby sighed, leaning onto Mark as Bob confronted them about the gloom-hole they were attempting to hide. “You guys do know we’re here to help if you need it, right?” Bob said, glancing between the two of them concerned.

Mark sighed as well. “It’s fine, Bob. We’ll take care of it once people start to clear out.” Gabby nodded; they planned on covering it up with one of Mark’s ‘Your Welcome’ posters. Not a permanent solution, but it would keep people from noticing it like Bob had, and therefore, no one would poke it and possibly get pulled into their nightmare.

Bob frowned, “Shouldn’t you two be worried about this? I mean, it’s getting bigger.”

Mark gave a grin, even if it was strained. “That’s not the only thing that’s getting bigger.” Gabby gave a small chuckle at that.

Bob sighed. “Mark, Gabby, please.”

Gabby’s smile fell and she went to reply when she was interrupted by Tuump. “Uh, hey, guys. How did your mission go?”

“Er, well…” Bob started, coughing.

Gabby broke in, a big grin resting on her face. “It was good. Got to see these two embarrass themselves. How was yours?”

Trump’s eyebrows furrowed, a concerned look on her face. “Uh, it went well. We came back with Tiny Box Tim and Baby Doll Blanche, remember?”

Gabby flushed when she remembered that. Mark gave an embarrassed laugh. “Yep, right. We knew that. Sorry, we’re doofuses.”

Tuump laughed, but the concerned look remained. “Well… I’ll see you guys later then!” With that, Tuump disappeared as she woke up. Gabby and Mark turned back to Bob after a glance around the Hub’s main room, noting it was pretty empty.

“Anyways, don’t worry about us Bob,” Gabby continued their previous conversation, “We’ll get the gloom hole taken care of. You can go to your Hub if you want or wake up. Me and Mark should get going on the gloom hole now.”

Bob pursed his lips before nodding with a sigh. “Alright. But seriously, call if you need any of us, ok?”

Gabby and Mark gave almost identical strained grins. “We know,” Mark told Bob, giving him a ‘manly hug.’ Gabby gave him one too after Mark released him.

“And the offer goes both ways, alright? Let us know if you need anything,” Gabby told Bob, to which he nodded. A moment after, Bob disappeared and left Mark and Gabby by themselves in the quiet MarkiHub. Both dropped their smiles and leaned heavily on each other. “We’re never gonna take them up on that offer, are we?”

Mark shook his head. “This is our responsibility. We have a duty to make sure this all works out, that this community stays positive. This is all our fault.”

Gabby just gave a sad smile. “It really is. But hey, improvement. It isn’t just one of our faults; it’s both of ours.” Mark snorted but stayed silent. They just took comfort in the presence of each other before Gabby finally stirred. “So, you grab the poster from Google and Tumblr, I’ll grab the tape?” With a small nod from Mark, they both untangled the arms from around each other while leaning against the other, both setting off to grab what they needed. Hopefully, the gloom hole won’t be getting much bigger anymore.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark and Gabby stumbled through the portal the next day, exhausted and battered. This mission had been filled with an almost overwhelming force of Terrorlings. Gabby had even resorted to using her staff as a more physical weapon, her ‘mana’ exhausted. Gabby regretted her and Mark telling Tim and Blanche they could hang back today. They had noted they were going into an Amnesia based dream and assumed it would be an easy mission, one where they could blow off steam. More than half of their usual people had disappeared from the Hub, and another fight occurred between a few of the members that had appeared that day made the two tense and more than willing to head out as just the two of them so they could try and relax. Only for the whole mission to go pear-shaped the moment they stepped through; there had been Terrorlings in the room they appeared in and almost every room after that. Gabby had a headache along with bruises from where Terrorlings had managed to get in some good shots. Mark was in much of the same condition. But the worst thing was that they had failed to save the person they had gone in to save; it was a little girl, and it was horrifying to see as the shadows consumed her.

The whispers had filled their ears, telling them how they had failed, that they were weak for not saving the child in time, how could anyone trust them after this failure. Mark and Gabby said nothing about them this time; they both knew that the voices were right; they were weak… failures. The two were subdued as they entered the MarkiHub and shuffled over to the stools, weakly sitting down. It didn’t take long before a flash filled the hub, and their heads jerked up, eyes widening as they saw Tuump sobbing. “What happened?” Mark asked in concern, he and Gabby standing up and darting over to the group.

“I couldn’t save her!” Trump cried out, rubbing at her eyes as though attempting to force the tears to disappear.

“The darkness took her!” Blermf told Mark and Gabby. Gabby restrained herself from wincing, reminded of her and Mark’s mission.

“If I had just gotten there a little sooner! If I could have just convinced her she was worth it!” Trump said, still crying. “Why can’t I help anybody?”

“Something happened!” Wefubu, the newest member of Tuump’s team, said. “We just appeared back here.”

Gabby immediately tried to soothe everyone. “She probably just woke up. It’s okay.”

“It’s not okay, I didn’t save her! It’s all my fault!” Trump screamed out, tears streaming done her face as she started backing away from everyone.

Gabby’s eyes widened as she noticed a gloom hole open behind Tuump, Flampt seeing it too. “Tuump, wait!” Flampt cried while Gabby lunged forward to try and catch Tuump before she fell, only for her fingers to brush Tuump’s arm. Gabby lay on the ground, horrified that she hadn’t been quick enough again while also being too tired to stand up. She laid her head on the floor, struggling to hold back tears and missed as the team jumped down the hole, going for their leader. Gabby swallowed heavily and felt Mark come up beside her, laying a hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure how long they stayed like that but jerked as she suddenly heard the team cry out for them, the noise coming from their transporter. Exchanging a horrified look as they realized that they had let them go and save Tuump alone, they scrambled to their feet, stumbling for a moment as their injuries started to take their toll. Gabby whipped out her transporter and locked onto the team, transporting the two of them into Tuump’s nightmare. Gabby pursed her lips as she took in the large group of Terrorlings. She immediately began to blast them with whatever energy she had left, letting Mark usher the group into the portal he made. With a grim nod to Mark as he joined her, they fought tooth and nail with every ounce of energy they could against this army of Terrorlings. But… they were too weak from their earlier mission.

Gabby fell first, head swimming as she hit the hard ground. Mark fell soon after, and for a few moments, all they knew was darkness. Gabby cried out as her every insecurity, weakness, and failure was being used to taunt her. Finally, hurting enough, Gabby lashed out with a burst of energy, knocking the Terrorlings back and away from her and Mark. Mark pushed himself up and helped Gabby to her feet as he hit the emergency button on his transporter, pulling them back to the Hub. As their feet hit the ground of the darkened Hub, they rushed over to the group. “Is everyone alright?” Mark asked, concern and sadness swirling in his voice before noticing something. “Wait. Where’s Blermf?”

“She’s gone! I couldn’t protect…” Flapmt said, starting to freak out.

Dooooooop snarled, getting in Mark and Gabby’s faces. “This is all your fault, Mark, Gabby! What took you so fucking long?”

“Dooooooop, stop it,” Wefubu said, trying to get him to calm down.

Dooooooop ignored her, still yelling at the two of them. “The heroes always arrive at the last second. Isn’t that right? But you guys were just too damn late!”

Mark and Gabby just stood there, knowing he was right, even if Wefubu seemed to think differently. “It’s not their fault. You can’t expect them to be everywhere at once,” she said gently.

“But we needed them! Mark, Gabby, we needed you! And you let us down! This always happens!” Dooooooop said, furious.

“They didn’t! They--” Flampt started, only for them to be cut off.

“It wasn’t like you were any help! You fucking freak!” Dooooooop told them, whirling around to be face to face with them.

Tuump rushed forward at that point. “Dooooooop! Calm down!”

“Don’t tell me to calm down!” Dooooooop told her, whirling back towards Mark and Gabby. “Mark and Gabby need to take responsibility!”

“For what?” Tuump yelled back. “You blowing things out of proportion?”

Dooooooop finally fully snapped at that point. “BLowing things out of proportion? Blermf is gone! Everyone is gone! Look at this place!” he said, gesturing around at the nearly pitch-black Hub. “What the fuck has this become?”

Flampt started to slowly back up, panic covering their face. “Oh, god… Stop it! Stop yelling! I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I can’t--” Their words cut off as the disappeared.

Tuump’s eyes widened. “Flampt?!”

“Please,” Gabby started, her voice begging.

“We can explain,” Mark continued, sounding devastated. After hearing all their failings being yelled at them by another, they felt more vulnerable than before, when they had been overcome temporarily by the darkness. They just wanted a chance to explain, to--

“This is your fault! No wonder people have stopped appearing! You guys let this shit get in here!” Dooooooop snarled at them. Mark and Gabby lightly flinched, unnoticed by Tuump, Dooooooop, and Wefubu; after all, they had. They hadn’t entered the gloom hole to face their fears and simply allowed it to worsen. They deserved every moment of this.

“Stop it!” Trump cried. “Don’t talk to them like that!”

“You guys…” Gabby started. “We can’t control how people--”

“Isn’t this place your responsibility? If you guys actually cared, this wouldn’t have happened! You’re just like everyone else out there!” Dooooooop told the two. “You might start out with good intentions, but sooner or later, you stop caring. Just like everyone does. You two are just goddamn fakes!” At that, Mark and Gabby whirled around, walking away to the wall together with tears streaming down their face.

They wrapped an arm each around each other as they heard Tuump yell at Dooooooop. “Dooooooop! Shut the fuck up!”

“Fuck you! I hate… I hate…” Dooooooop started before disappearing too.

Gabby heard Wefubu sniffle while asking, “Why is this happening?” There was complete silence as she also left, leaving Mark and Gabby to cry by themselves. Soon the soft sounds of footsteps appeared behind them.

“Mark? Gabby?” Trump hesitantly said. Upon receiving no response, she continued. “Mark, Gabby? Are you okay? Dooooooop… He didn’t mean it…”

Mark and Gabby both sighed. “It’s okay,” Gabby told Tuump sadly, letting her arm fall from around Mark as he reached up to take off his glasses.

“We’re used to it,” Mark admitted softly.

“M.. Mark? Gabby?” Trump said quietly. They both turned, allowing Tuump to see their tear-stained faces. It appeared that was the breaking point for Tuump, though, as she disappeared. Mark and Gabby’s faces crumpled further once it was just the two of them.

“We messed up, didn’t we?” Gabby said, looking around their once brightly lit hub.

“We did. We should have just entered the gloom hole when it first appeared. Faced our fears head-on.” Mark responded, sighing as he wiped at his tears.

Gabby took in a shaky breath. “We wake up. Then, tonight, we’re going in,” she told Mark, a firm set to her jaw. Mark just nodded; they just needed to get over themselves and just do what needed to be done. As Gabby felt herself wake up, she could only hope that they could defeat their own nightmare.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gabby glanced around the MarkiHub as she appeared that night; it was filled with gloom holes everywhere. They should have done this a lot sooner. She heard quiet steps behind her and turned to see Mark standing there, a sad smile on his face. “Ready to go kitty?” he said, a light yet sad teasing tone filling his voice.

“Whenever you are puppy,” she responded, her weak smile being flashed in his direction. With that, they reached out and gripped each other’s hand tightly, walking towards the original gloom hole. Taking a deep breath and sharing a glance, Gabby tore off the poster and stepped through.

Two voices filled their ears as they did, sounding familiar but with a darker undertone than what the voices usually sounded like. “ _ You’ve let everyone down, Mark, Gabby. There’s so much hate. And it’s all your fault. You two could have saved everyone. You two could have helped everyone. But you failed. You two weren’t there when they needed you. You two are pathetic. It’s all falling apart around you. They don’t trust either of you anymore. How could they? You’ve let them down, over and over again. Just give up. You two will never be the heroes they need. You two were never heroes. _ ” Gabby and Mark blinked as the darkness faded and squeezed each other’s hand tightly. Gabby let her eyes flick around the dreamscape and recognized it immediately.

“Five Night’s at Freddy’s,” Mark said quietly. Gabby nodded but flinched as the two voices started to whisper in their ears again.

“ _ Come now. Just give in. You know you want to, _ ” the dark mockery of her and Mark’s voices said.

Mark squeezed her hand tighter, and Gabby took a deep breath, ignoring the voices for now. With a single nod, they headed to the most essential room of the game, the security office—time to face their fears.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark and Gabby focused on getting ready for the night; the nightmare had yet to reach midnight so the animatronics had yet to go on free-roam. However, they startled as a pounding echoed from the closed right door. “Mark, Gabby, let us in!” They heard Tuump shout through the door.

Mark and Gabby exchanged a panicked glance. “Shit! What are you guys doing here?” Mark yelled back.

Gabby flicked the camera to see outside the door and saw Tuump’s whole team was out there just as Flampt responded. “We’re gonna get you guys out!”

“You all need to go! It’s too dangerous for you to stay here!” Gabby said, ignoring the cameras now as she and Mark tried to force them to leave.

“Mark, Gabby, please! I’m so sorry about last night. I didn’t mean it! Don’t shut yourselves in here because of what I said!” Dooooooop pleaded with them.

“That isn’t it. We just...” Mark sighed. “Please go! You’re not safe here!”

The twisted voices laughed. “ _ And just where are they safe now? They aren’t safe here, from the representation of your failings or you. We know you feel us creeping in. You two are so tired, so weak. Just let us take over. _ ” Gabby flinched at that. The voices were right. She could feel as she grew more tired and weak, the louder and more prominent the voices became. They were so loud now and couldn’t truly be ignored, not with the way they had started screaming the last time Mark or Gabby had. It had left their ears ringing, and a sharp pain filled their heads.

As if to continue mocking them, the office clock beeped to let them know it was midnight. “Damn it all. The animatronics go on free roam at midnight,” Gabby cursed. “You have to leave now, guys!”

“Not without you guys!” Wefubu said, her voice sounding steely.

They didn’t hear anything but Blermf’s voice sounded out soon after. “Somethings coming.”

“Ah, fine.” Mark pushed a button on the desk, opening the door. The team was quick to rush in and over to Mark and Gabby.

“Mark, Gabby, I’m so sorry!” Dooooooop said, remorse covering his face.

Gabby just sighed, letting Mark answer. “It’s okay,” Mark told him.

“No, it’s not okay! I was scared and angry, so I said so many things I didn’t mean!” Dooooooop admitted. “And now you’re both here in your shared nightmare! It’s all my fault.”

Mark rubbed the back of his neck, sighing. “It really isn’t your fault Dooooooop. It’s ours,” Gabby told the teen. “We’re the ones who--” Gabby cut off as a thump sounded in the hallway. The voices chuckled darkly, the sound sending dread trickling down Gabby’s spine. “It’s not safe here. We should keep moving.”

Gabby pushed another button, opening up the left door now. Mark gestured for the team to go first. Gaby and Mark locked eyes as soon as Tuump’s team was out of the office, and Gabby slammed her fist down on the button, closing the group out of the office. “What are you doing?” Flampt was the first to cry out.

“We’re going to stay and fight Bonnie. You all go and find the exit. We’ll take care of this and then find you, okay?” Mark told the group, turning towards the right door.

“You guys don’t have to do this alone! We’re here to help you!” Tuump told the two, pounding her fist on the door.

“But you all are here because of us. We don’t want you to get hurt for us now either!” Gabby informed the team. Gabby and Mark heard quiet muttering and light shuffling as Tuump, Blermf, Flampt, Dooooooop, and Wefubu all left.

“ _ So, you think you two going to fight now? _ ” The mockery of Gabby’s voice taunted. “ _ You’re still weak from last night. How could you ever hope to protect those children in your condition? Come now, just give in. Let us help you been strong. _ ” Mark and Gabby tried to ignore the voices again, only to let out yells of pain.

Clutching their heads, they heard the dark version of Mark’s voice snarl at them. “ _ You think you can just ignore us! We are here to make you strong and help you let go of all that makes you weak! _ ”

Dark Gabby let out a tinkling laugh. “ _ Try not to ignore us again. It won’t end well for you. Now, Bonnie is no longer in the hall but, why don’t we take a visit to Foxy? Do that, and maybe we won’t let that small team your so fond of be fully destroyed. _ ” Gabby glanced over at Mark, her brown eyes meeting his. A defeated expression laid on both of their faces, and they stumbled over to the door, exiting it. It was time to meet Foxy.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mark and Gabby fled from Pirate’s cove as though a multitude of Foxys was chasing them. God, why didn’t they think about the fact the kids would need a transporter to get out? Mark and Gabby made them fight through Chica and Bonnie just to have a means to escape. Gabby skidded to a halt as they reached the main stage and leaned against it, panting. The voices… No… Gabby knew what it was. Their personal darkness was getting harder to push back, to keep from letting their despair, their weakness envelop them. Mark stood behind Gabby, his heavy pants filling the air. For now, for just this moment, everything was quiet. “We were such idiots Mark,” Gabby said brokenly. “They don’t have transporters like us, and we pushed them out the door, locked it, and told them to leave even though they couldn’t.”

“I know,” Mark said softly. “We failed them again.”

“Now you’re starting to see what we mean. So come now. Let us take control. You wouldn’t have to worry about a single thing like that again.” Dark Mark’s voice purred.

The moment was broken just as most of Mark and Gabby’s control slipped, leaving it hung on a single thin thread. “Mark! Gabby!” Wefubu cried.

Dooooooop was quick to start apologizing again. “Please listen to us! I’m so sorry about what I said before! Don’t turn away from everyone because of the stupid things I said!”

Gabby sighed as she and Mark turned around. “We’re sorry,” Gabby said softly.

“You were right, Dooooooop. We’ve failed you. We’re not… I-” Mark cut off, emotion clogging his throat.

“Just please go. Leave here and get to somewhere safe,” Gabby said, tears pricking at her eyes. She ripped off her glasses to rub at them.

“We won’t leave you behind!” Blermf said, taking a determined step forwards.

Tuump strode forward to stand closer to Mark and Gabby. “You’re good people! Mark, Gabby, making some mistakes doesn’t change that. Not rescuing everyone every single time, doesn’t mean you’ve failed us! You guys--”

A sharp crack filled the air as darkness surged out of Mark and Gabby; their thin control over the Darkness had snapped; they were prisoners in their cages of doubt and self-hatred. It was time for Darkiplier and Shadow to come out and play. Smirks smoothly slid onto their faces and their eyes and clothes turned black. “Oh, do us a favor and shut up,” Gabby’s… Shadow’s voice said.

Tuump felt her eyes widen, and she took a step back. Quietly, Flapmt hesitantly called out, “Mark… Gabby...”

Dark sighed. “What did she just say? We don’t wanna hear another one of your pathetic cries.”

“You were given a chance to leave,” Shadow told the group, her voice silky and dark.

“Now, it’s too late,” Dark finished with a small chuckle. “We’re in control now. You’re not getting out of this.”

“Mark, Gabby,” Blermf said shakily, “Stop it. You’re scaring me!”

“You need to snap out of it!” Wefubu tried to encourage the duo.

Shadow let out a tinkling laugh. “Oh, come on now. You’ve all just been begging for this!”

Dooooooop took a small step forward. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Are you really so blind?” Dark questioned with a grin. “You really didn’t see this coming? I should have known you didn’t really care. You fight and point fingers, spitting venom at each other out of nothing but baseless anger and jealousy.”

“The darkness has been growing,” Shadow informed the quintet. “With each and every bitter word, it grew stronger. Simply goes to show how stupid and helpless they actually were. But not anymore.”

“Mark, Gabby...” Blermf started.

Dark cut her off. “Not quite. It’s our turn now.”

Tuump gave a heavy swallow. “Who are you?”

“In a sense, we’re the same ol’ guy and gal you know and love. But… I think you know who I really am.” Dark said with an evil grin, Shadow leaning against him with a matching one.

“Darkiplier,” Wefubu said softly.

Shadow gave a sarcastic clap. “Well done, Wefubu,” Dark praised. “This is my lovely friend Shadow, by the way.”

“So, you’re the ones that caused all this?” Dooooooop snapped, getting angry. “You’re the reason Mark and Gabby are in this nightmare?”

Shadow let her eyebrows raise is mock surprise. “Us? Is that what you think? Sure, Mark and Gabby succumbed to this, but how do you think that happened? When they told you all to run last night, they stayed to fight those Terrorlings. But they were weak. Mark and Gabby were vulnerable, they couldn’t stop them, and they succumbed to the darkness.”

“But don’t you worry about them anymore,” Dark told them. “Things are so much better this way. Turns out this was exactly what they needed.”

“But… Why didn’t Mark or Gabby say anything? Why didn’t they ask for help?” Flampt asked, horrified.

“Would you?” Shadow said, a sly grin covering her face as her black eye locked onto them. At Flampt’s silence, her grin grew more prominent. “Thought not. Like Dark said, none of you care. That’s how it came to this. Haven’t you noticed the hub become more and more empty? I don’t understand how all of you even managed to get in.”

“That place is flooded with negativity, making it crumble. Making it weak. But that’s okay, this darkness only feeds us. It only makes us and the Terrorlings grow stronger,” Dark purred. “And soon enough, you and all of his… No, my fans will be consumed by this darkness.”

Trump clenched her fists and glared at Dark and Shadow. “No! That’ll never happen!”

Shadow scoffed. “Please, that ridiculous naivety of yours is making me feel sick.”

“Mark, Gabby, please!” Trump ignored her words and called out for the duo.

Dark and Shadow snarled, darkness flaring behind them. “We are not Mark and Gabby!” they both growled before taking a deep breath and calming. “We are Dark and Shadow. And soon, you’ll understand how much better we really are.” With that, the two beings of darkness allowed the shadows to swallow them, moving them to stand on the stage.

Dark sent the group a grin, the theatrics pleasing him. “Hello, everybody. My name is Darkiplier, and with me, the Lady Shadow. And welcome… To the Fall of a Hero.” With that finished, Dark and Shadow lashed out with dark magic and shadows, attacking Tuump and her team. It was quick work for the two beings; within minutes, the group was all injured while Dark and Shadow barely had a single scratch on them. Dark scoffed. “Look at all of you. You’re so weak. Don’t you realize that following them got you nowhere?”

“They did nothing to help you. But we can give you all that you desire,” Shadow purred, her glistening black eyes raking over each team member. “You could be like us. Fearsome and powerful. Wouldn’t that be nice, Blermf? No reason to be afraid when you’re the monster.”

Dooooooop’s eyes flashed. “Leave her alone!”

Dark laughed. “Ah, Dooooooop. I can tell you’ve already had your taste of the darkness. You could be so strong by our side. No one would ever leave you behind. No one would dare.” His eyes shifted to Wefufbu. “You too, Wefubu. No one could push you down. Not when you’re as strong as us.”

“I’ll never want to be like you,” Wefubu said, steel in her voice.

Shadow ignored her reply, focusing on Flampt now. “Flapmt, people love Dark. They love him even more than Mark. Maybe if you became more like him, like us, people could actually learn to tolerate you.”

Flampt froze at that, staring at the twisted duo with hurt covering their face. However, Trump wasn’t going to let any of their comments slide. “Don’t listen to them,” she ordered.

Dark chuckled as Shadow flicked her eyes to stare at her. “Ah, Tuump. We weren’t about to forget you, our fearless little leader. Wouldn’t it be nice if your team actually obeyed you?” Dark asked.

“We could make them obey,” Shadow offered darkly, a smirk evident on her face as she slowly and deliberately combed her eyes over the others.

Trump grew angry at that. “That’s not… That isn’t what I want! That isn’t what a leader is!” she spat at the two dark versions of the people she looked up to. Then she turned her attention to trying to call out to the duo she cared about. “Mark! Gabby! I know you’re still there! We’re gonna save you, alright?”

Dark sighed, “Oh, Tuump. You’re still trying for that? Mark and Gabby are gone. You can’t save them. But, why would you even want to? Why save them, when you could have us? We must admit, we do admire their accomplishments. But they were limited by their ideals. Our views are much… Broader. Kindness gets you nothing. Haven’t you learned that by now? You can’t do anything!”

“Yet, if you have yet to understand that,” Shadow purred, stalking forwards leaping off the stage as Dark did the same. “I suppose we’ll simply have to make you understand.” Once again, the two groups clashed in battle and, while the dark beings still were winning, Tuump and her team had fought harder after the speech, angry that Dark and Shadow would mock and belittle their leaders, their friends. It was after Tuump managed to blast Shadow in the face that she lost it. “You all never learn to give up when you’ve lost, have you?! Why don’t you understand? Mark and Gabby don’t want you here!”

Tuump glared at Shadow, unafraid. “Mark and Gabby had said that we’re all here for a reason. They said it’s because of our hearts!” She laid a hand across her own heart as she took a step forwards, still glaring at the two. “They saw good in all of us and they saw the chance to help people and make the world a better place!”

“They were naive!” Dark spat. “You can’t save everyone! You experienced that first hand!”

“That may be true, but that doesn’t mean we’ll give up,” Dooooooop called out, supporting Tuump’s words. “Mark and Gabby would never give up! I know I said some stupid shit before, but it wasn’t true!”

“It’s okay that we couldn’t save everyone. What matters is that we never stop trying and we always keep moving forward!” Blermf agreed.

Wefubu nodded, throwing out her own support. “Mark has helped save so many people. HE saved me. He saved all of us!”

“Shut up!” Shadow roared. “You don’t know anything! You don’t understand how the real world works!”

Tuump’s glare deepened. “Sorry buddies,” she spat, “But I think you’re the ones who don’t understand. You’re not even real.”

Flampt stepped forward at that point. “We know you’re still in there somewhere Mark, Gabby. Just remember that there is good in people! Remember why you’re here! You told me I had to believe in people. So believe in us!” At that, the heart on the teams sleeve started to glow.

“No, no, no!” Shadow snarled, growing angrier. “Shut up!”

“We’ll destroy you all!” Dark spat. “And there is nothing you and they can do to stop us.” However, Dark and Shadow’s victory was not meant to be. The two beings fought long and hard but it seemed as though Tuump and the team had gained a second wind, fighting harder than they had ever seemed to before. Finally, the duo was almost ready to crumple when they finally cried out for the final time. “No! No! No! We won’t be weak again!” Dark snarled, angry that these  _ weaklings _ dared to attack them.

“We won’t let your worthless ideals take this away from us!” Shadow spat, allowing all the shadows in the room to flare dangerously. “You won’t win!”

However, Dark and Shadow both froze as Mark and Gabby finally heard the team again. Glancing up, they saw their dark selves standing there with two Terrorlings. “I hear them…” Gabby said softly, tear still in her eyes as they two stood up from where they had originally sat crumpled on the ground.

“They… They still believe in us, even after all of this?” Mark asked in disbelief, the dark room shaking hard.

“No! You know they don’t really care about you,” Dark snapped. “Don’t let them lead you back down that path of weakness.”

Gabby let out a shaky breath. “But… they-”

She was cut off by Tuump crying out to them. “Mark, Gabby! This isn’t you! It’s the Terrorlings, it’s the darkness, and you guys have to fight it! You have to fight them! You’re strong enough! You can do this!”

“They’re lying,” Shadow purred. “You know that they are because you two have been too.”

“You’re fakes,” a Terrorling whispered, “You two don’t even care, do you? You know you can’t really help people.”

“No… please stop…” Mark sighed defeatedly, looking down. Gabby swallowed harshly, but forced herself to stare at their tormentors, not saying a word.

Tuump’s words pierced through the darkness again. “You guys don’t have to take it all on yourselves. You do so much for us. But we want you to be happy too!”

Gabby straightened a little at that, hope sparking minutely in her chest even as Dark tried to make her and Mark ignore Tuump. “Don’t listen to those idiotic children! You’ve been disillusioned with this world!” Dark snarled.

“You know how dark and hopeless things really are,” Shadow said. “That’s why you like being with us. You enjoy the strength, the power we give. We know, you can’t lie to yourselves. You two didn’t have control before us and now you do. You can control everything. You can use all of them because now you’re better than them.”

“That’s why we choose you two, why we waited,” another Terrorling purred. “They are nothing! Don’t go back to being weak!”

“But we not!” Mark cried out, fighting back against their demons in the only way they could right now.

“We’ve never been weak,” Gabby agreed.

“Yes, you are. You can’t help anyone. No matter how many motivational vlogs, or charity streams, or volunteer work you do, no matter how hard either of you try, neither of you can save anyone!” Dark growled. “That’s why you need us! Why be heroes when we can give you all this power?”

“What we do has never been about being a hero! Nothing about what we do has been about that.” Gabby told him and Shadow. Mark nodded, glaring at the two.

“Mark, Gabby! Listen to us! We’re here!” Tuump interrupted again. “We know you two can pull through this! We’re here for you!” Gabby and Mark smiled at that and a peace that had been difficult to reach lately settled over the two.

“I think it’s time you leave us alone,” Gabby grinned at Dark and Shadow, just as everything went black again.

Dark and Shadow, now back to seeing outside of their joined mindscapes, started screaming in rage.

“No! No! Shut up!” Dark snarled at Tuump, eyes filled with loathing.

Shadow felt her chest rumble as a growl ripped it way out of her throat. “All they need is us, all they need is the darkness.” Before either could say more, Dark and Shadow both felt a harsh shoving sensation as Mark and Gabby forcefully ejected them out of their bodies. A smoke like substance exited their mouths and then, the two collapsed to their knees, panting.

Gabby glanced around. “We’re… back? I… I didn’t think that would work.”

Mark chuckled, leaning on her as they both got to their feet. Any amount of amusement left their faces to be replaced with guilt. “You guys… We really can’t thank you enough,” MArk thanked the team.

Gabby swallowed, tears pricking at her eyes, as she noticed each injury on the team. “We’re so, so sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Wefubu told the pair. “You were fighting your own heads, just like all of us were when we got saved.”

Gabby shook her head as Mark responded. “But we were supposed to be leaders. We were supposed to protect all of you. You shouldn’t need to deal with our shit.”

“We can’t really believe we let this happen,” Gabby admitted softly, guilt flashing across her face.

But it isn’t like you wanted this to happen,” Dooooooop told them. “It’s not your fault. I… it’s mine, partially. I yelled at you for no reason.”

“No, Dooooooop. We already told you-” Gabby started before Tuump cut her off.

“It wasn’t any one person’s fault, okay?” Tuump asserted. “Things in real life were getting to you and I could see what people were saying about you guys... Everything said was all so mean but… it wasn't true and no one really meant it and...”

As Tuump trailed off, Wefubu picked it up. “People will go out of their way to find things to be angry about. Someone with a cynical look on the world is only going to see the worst in people.”

“When you’re depressed and going through tough times, sometimes it can be hard to remember that the world isn’t all bad.” Flampt said softly.

“So please, never forget that there’s someone out there who cares about you. Maybe it’s hard to feel like it’s sincere, but you have to have faith that there are good people out there,” Blermf told the pair, giving them a gentle smile.

“Wow… You guys are amazing,” Mark said in amazement before glancing down with a self-deprecating chuckle. “You’re so strong on your own. You don’t even need us, do you?”

Tuump laughed. “So what? Maybe we are strong enough to stand on our own, but we wouldn’t have gotten here without you.”

“You two have always been here to let us know we’re important.” Dooooooop said, a rare smile gracing his face.

Blermf’s smile grew wider as she threw in her own opinion. “And you reminded us how much we’re worth.”

“Both of you are there for us anytime we need you. Just a click away,” Wefubu reassured them.

Gabby sighed. “You make it sound like we’ve been the only ones in the real world that were there for you. If anyone, it’s Mark as I only joined about a year ago. And plus, it could have really been anyone.”

“But it was both of you!” Dooooooop cried. “Yeah, you joined later Gabby and yeah, a bunch of other people could have said the same things, but we heard it from both of you! Don’t you understand how much you guys mean to us?”

“You never knew any of us. You don’t know the lives or problems of the people who watch your videos, but you still helped us through so much.” Flampt said, more confident after everyone else had spoken. “You saved so many of us time and time again! Just by being yourselves.”

“It’s about time we returned the favor, don’t you think?” Tuump teased.

“We don’t really know you guy and we’re not able to be there for you like your real life friends, but you guys have to know that we want to support you in any way we can.” Dooooooop said.

Flampt smiled awkwardly. “This is us reaching out to you! We’re just trying to tell you guys how much you really mean to all of us!”

“You both have millions and millions of people out there who cherish you and everything you stand for,” Tuump told them. “Because of you, we never have to fight alone. So please let us make sure it’s the same for you two. Okay, Mark, Gabby?”

Mark and Gabby both gave wet laughs. “Alright, alright. Now quit before you make us both cry again,” Mark told the group.

Gabby gave another laugh, “Thank you, all of you. For everything.” Then both Mark and Gabby opened their arms with watery smiles. “Group hug time!” Gabby giggled.

“Bring it in,” Mark shouted playfully. Within the next moment, Mark and Gabby fell with an “omf” to the floor as the five teens tackled them. Each of them laughed as they fell, not a care in the world as, in that one moment, all was well.

(And if Gabby and Mark shared a mischievous look over the kids heads as they planned to teach them on how to remember the events of the Hub, only to surprise them at the next Markiplier panel, well, that was for them to know.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter! This was fun to write and I hope you all enjoy this!


End file.
